Wheaton North Boys Cross Country Team Continues Tradition

Nate Roe can bear witness to Wheaton North's steady climb up the ladder of cross country success since 2003.

That year, Roe served as an assistant to longtime head coach Jim Martin, who led the Falcon boys team to its first appearance in the Class AA state meet in more than 25 years. (Wheaton North finished 17th as a team.)

The following season, Wheaton North made a return trip to the state tournament, and the Falcons jumped to 12th in the team standings.

When Roe took over as head coach in 2005, the Falcons didn't miss a beat as they qualified for state three consecutive years. They were 14th n '05, 10th in '06 and 7th in '07.

While they did not qualify in , but the Falcons returned to Detweiller Park in Peoria last November and placed 11th—one point shy of a top-10 finish.

"We've had some great teams," Roe said. "We've had some years where we had some good teams that didn't make it through (to state) whether it was (because of) the format of the regionals or whatever.

"The early 2000s, that group started making a commitment to training a little more to prepare for their season. I think that's the big difference in cross country is more kids train a lot more. They've really brought into that and (have) not let the tradition (at Wheaton North) down or let it die."

Two of the Falcons' top runners in '09, Jake and James Waterman, have since graduated. Nonetheless, Roe likes the nucleus of runners in his stable, and believes they have the potential to make some noise in the DuPage Valley Conference.

"This year's group, they're talented," Roe said, who is in his sixth season as head coach. "But we're deeper where we could have five or six guys within 20 seconds of each other and further up in races."

That depth was evident at the 19-team Jeff Leavey Invitational on Sept. 4. The Falcons captured fourth place even though one of Wheaton North's runners was not able to finish due to breathing problems.

"We probably would have been in the top two," Roe said. "It was a good start for us; we were right within reach of the top two or three teams."

Senior Caleb Philbrick, one of the Falcons' top runners, has been battling stress fractures in his legs each of the past two seasons. Last year, the injury kept Philbrick out of the DVC meet and the postseason.

"He was our No. 3 man until just before the conference meet," Roe said. "He's really big for us to get him healthy and where he needs to be."

Philbrick says he "feels great" and is optimistic about what the Falcons can do this season.

"I think that we can be really good if everything falls into place and if we all stay healthy," he said. "We also have to work really hard and be at each other's backs. We've all worked very hard. We've been smart in our training. Fortunately we have great coaches to help us out."

Another senior, Jason Dowell, is new to the team, but he's already established himself as a fixture in the Falcons' lineup. He was Wheaton North's top finisher at the Leavey Invite. Last spring, he turned in a time of 9:41 in the 2-mile run for Wheaton North's track team—a time that Roe says is "phenomenal."

"He's a hockey player as well, so he brings that grittiness, that toughness to the course," Roe said. "He's really caught fire."

One of the team's captains, junior Sam Hoffman, gained valuable varsity experience last season.

"Sam cut his teeth a lot last year in learning the varsity level as a sophomore," Roe said. "He went through those growing pains. He's emerged as a true team leader."

Hoffman's classmate, Aiden Askin, also is expected to provide points for the Falcons. Askin and Philbrick were part of the Falcon track team's state qualifying 4 x 800-meter relay team last spring.

Wheaton North varsity roster (juniors and seniors)

Aiden Askin (jr), Taylor Britain (jr.), Josh Currie (jr.), Kevin Cox (sr.), Nick Decraene (jr.), Jason Dowell (sr.), Dan Ericson (jr.), Sean Evans (jr.), David Gagnon (sr.), Sare Goitom (sr.), Greg Gornik (sr.), Robbie Gosling (jr.), Brett Guild (sr.), Sam Hoffman (jr.), Zach Johnson (sr.), Ben Karmis (jr), Alexander King (sr.), James Maher (sr.), Ryan Mathis (jr.), Scott Mathis (jr.), Steven Norregaard (sr.), Mike O'Grady (jr.), Caleb Philbrick (sr.), Eduardo Rodriguez (sr.), Keegan Simpson (jr.), Zach Singleton (jr.), Sammy Spivey (jr.), Chris Starnawski (jr.), Greg Wiacek (jr.), Brock Zimmerman (jr.).